Deck 24: The Opening of the Cold War

Question 1

The Supreme Court declared that President Truman overstepped his authority when he

A) sent troops to enforce the "police action" in Korea.
B) seized domestic steel mills during a labor dispute.
C) removed General MacArthur from his command in Korea.
D) extended the military draft into peacetime.

Answer 1

seized domestic steel mills during a labor dispute.

Question 2

The replacement of the Department of War with the Department of Defense

A) was stipulated in the National Security Act of 1947.
B) came at the recommendation of the National Security Council.
C) came at the recommendation of the CIA.
D) took place as a result of the Korean War.

Answer 2

was stipulated in the National Security Act of 1947.

Question 3

The fact that the military draft continued after the Korean War was evidence that the federal government

A) saw the armed forces as a necessary source of employment for young men.
B) was envisioning a peacetime military with responsibilities beyond warfare.
C) was preparing for potential future proxy wars with the Soviet Union and China.
D) wanted to reassure NATO allies in the aftermath of the Korean stalemate.

Answer 3

was preparing for potential future proxy wars with the Soviet Union and China.

Question 4

The increased power of the executive branch, or "imperial presidency," was reflected in and enhanced by the

A) growth of a national security apparatus.
B) participation of the United States in NATO.
C) contents of the document NSC-68.
D) implementation of the Truman Doctrine.

Question 5

Who authorized the deployment of a peacekeeping force to Korea?

A) President Truman
B) Congress
C) The United Nations
D) NATO

Question 6

What inspired George Kennan to write his long telegram?

A) Stalin's speech on the superiority of the Soviet system
B) Winston Churchill's speech about Europe's "iron curtain"
C) George Marshall's speech on providing financial aid to Europe
D) President Truman's speech about the civil war in Greece

Question 7

The Soviets organized the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance in response to the

A) Berlin airlift.
B) revolution in China.
C) formation of NATO.
D) Warsaw Pact.

Question 8

Which of the following statements identifies the significance of George Kennan's "Long Telegram"?

A) It illustrated the relevance of modern communications technology for Cold War diplomacy.
B) It provided Truman with the last opportunity to turn the tone of talks with Russia around and avoid a Cold War.
C) It solidified Truman's mistrust of the Soviet Union and helped propel the escalation of the Cold War.
D) It highlighted how vulnerable the Foreign Service was to Communist espionage.

Question 9

Anxiety about Soviet aggression motivated the Truman administration to

A) promote the study of the Russian language and culture.
B) suspend the civil liberties of Americans of Russian descent.
C) renege on commitments made by President Roosevelt at Yalta.
D) expand and improve its intelligence-gathering operations.

Question 10

Truman advanced the imperial presidency when he

A) sent food aid to Berlin.
B) supported the Marshall Plan.
C) sent military aid to Greece.
D) sent American troops to Korea.

Question 11

The theory of "economic containment" was exemplified by the

A) establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
B) American efforts to revitalize West Germany's economy.
C) establishment of a Soviet blockade of West Berlin.
D) the development of the hydrogen bomb.

Question 12

Who argued that the United States should address the potential threat posed by the Soviet Union with a strategy of "containment"?

A) Harry Truman
B) Henry Wallace
C) Winston Churchill
D) George Kennan

Question 13

When it came to relations between the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II, President Harry Truman was more inclined than President Franklin Roosevelt had been to

A) allow the Soviets to maintain a sphere of influence in Eastern Europe.
B) publicly criticize the policies of Joseph Stalin and other Soviet leaders.
C) believe that the Soviet Union intended to invade the rest of Europe.
D) see the value of maintaining cordial relations with the Soviet Union.

Question 14

The interventions of the United States in both Korea and Greece reflected the belief that

A) any nation led by Communists would eventually become part of a Soviet power bloc.
B) the United States had the right to determine the political destinies of other nations.
C) the majority of citizens in those nations were Communist sympathizers.
D) the Yalta and Potsdam agreements were not worth the paper they were printed on.

Question 15

When did North Korea invade South Korea?

A) Two months after Truman received NSC-68
B) Within months after the Berlin Airlift had ended
C) On the eve of the Truman Doctrine
D) Two months before the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Question 16

The Soviet desire for a sphere of influence in Eastern Europe was comparable to American policies regarding its relationship to

A) Great Britain.
B) the Philippines.
C) the Caribbean.
D) China.

Question 17

What did the Truman Doctrine establish as the top priority of American foreign policy?

A) Supporting Europe's postwar economic recovery
B) Keeping Germany from regaining its military strength
C) Preventing the further spread of communism
D) Strengthening the United Nations and NATO

Question 18

The initial impact of containment theory on Truman's foreign policy can be seen in the president's

A) relationship with Yugoslavia's Josip Tito.
B) decision to intervene in the Greek civil war.
C) efforts to break the blockade of West Germany.
D) offer to let the Soviet Union apply to the Marshall Plan.

Question 19

The State Department withdrew a promise to help the Soviets rebuild their economy after

A) finding out about Stalin's purges.
B) Stalin declared communism the best form of government.
C) learning the Soviets did not support the Chinese revolution.
D) the Soviets undermined free elections in Poland.

Question 20

How was the Soviet Union characterized by NSC-68?

A) A nation focused on rebuilding its economic strength
B) Satisfied with its sphere of influence in Eastern Europe
C) Responsible for the Communist victory in China
D) Intent on dominating the rest of the world

Question 21

Both Richard Nixon and Joseph McCarthy advanced their careers by

A) accusing political opponents of being Communist collaborators.
B) serving on the HUAC.
C) practicing the "multiple untruth" approach to interviewing witnesses.
D) collecting and publicizing the names of suspected Communists.

Question 22

The death penalty sentence of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg can be attributed to

A) the Supreme Court decision in Dennis v. United States.
B) Senator Joseph McCarthy's influence on Judge Kaufman.
C) their appearance in the declassified Venona papers.
D) anger and grief over American deaths in the Korean War.

Question 23

The seizure of land owned by the American United Fruit Company resulted in a coup in

A) Guatemala.
B) Iran.
C) Cuba.
D) Iraq.

Question 24

Who played a key role in the spreading of anti-Communist hysteria?

A) J. Edgar Hoover
B) J. Robert Oppenheimer
C) Millard Tydings
D) Edward R. Murrow

Question 25

The success of Senator McCarthy's tactics suggests that a majority of the American people

A) believed a Communist takeover was possible.
B) were extremely naïve and gullible.
C) were Republicans and therefore supported him.
D) did not watch television regularly.

Question 26

Relations between the United States and Soviet Union improved when

A) the Soviets launched the artificial satellite Sputnik into space.
B) Hungarians rebelled against their Soviet-sponsored government.
C) Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev disassociated himself from the brutality of Stalin's regime.
D) both nations began above-ground testing of nuclear weapons.

Question 27

Which of the following banned citizens from advocating the violent overthrow of the U.S. government?

A) The Smith Act
B) The Federal Employee Loyalty Program
C) The Communist Control Act
D) The National Security Act

Question 28

President Truman can be characterized as

A) soft on communism.
B) ambivalent about the Communist threat.
C) a committed Cold Warrior.
D) an anti-Communist extremist.

Question 29

Which nation sent troops to help North Korea deter an American invasion?

A) The Soviet Union
B) Yugoslavia
C) China
D) Czechoslovakia

Question 30

Of the 378 government employees dismissed by the Federal Employee Loyalty Board, none was found guilty of being

A) homosexual.
B) a Communist.
C) pro-integration.
D) a fan of Paul Robeson.

Question 31

Why did President Harry Truman remove General Douglas MacArthur on April 11, 1951?

A) The general had been reluctant to cross into North Korea.
B) The general had incurred tremendous casualties at Inchon without any results.
C) The CIA revealed that the general had harbored sympathies for the Communist Party during the 1930s.
D) The general publicly criticized Truman for his unwillingness to risk a war with China.

Question 32

Who played a key role in the quelling of anti-Communist hysteria?

A) J. Edgar Hoover
B) Paul Robeson
C) Robert A. Taft
D) Edward R. Murrow

Question 33

Fellow Republicans initially considered Senator McCarthy's fervent attacks on suspected Communists

A) unnecessarily inflammatory.
B) without foundation.
C) an asset to their party.
D) embarrassing to their party.

Question 34

The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was established during the

A) nineteenth century.
B) first Red Scare.
C) New Deal years.
D) Truman administration.

Question 35

The Eisenhower Doctrine suggested that future proxy fights between the United States and Soviet Union would take place in

A) Southeast Asia.
B) the Middle East.
C) Central America.
D) the Caribbean.

Question 36

McCarthy's credibility was undermined by his performance during

A) his speech in Wheeling, West Virginia.
B) the army-McCarthy hearings.
C) an Edward R. Murrow broadcast.
D) a debate on the Senate floor.

Question 37

Senator McCarthy was seen as having gone too far when he claimed to have found communist infiltration of the

A) U.S. State Department.
B) U.S. Army.
C) White House.
D) Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Question 38

Which of the following characterized Senator Joseph McCarthy's politics?

A) Outside the mainstream of his era's political discourse
B) A hyperbolic version of commonly accepted beliefs and positions
C) Well-informed and carefully argued expressions of Cold War concerns
D) Motivated by a desire to undermine President Truman's policies

Question 39

The HUAC's investigation of Alger Hiss appears to have been motivated by its

A) desire to raise the public profile of Republican Congressman Richard Nixon.
B) belief that the State Department was undermining Cold War policy.
C) interest in suggesting that President Roosevelt was soft on communism.
D) desire to prove the need for the Federal Employee Loyalty Act.

Question 40

The Federal Employee Loyalty Board was established by

A) Congress.
B) the House Un-American Activities Committee.
C) President Truman.
D) Senator Joseph McCarthy.

Question 41

Eisenhower's foreign policy decisions were strongly influenced by

A) Vice President Nixon.
B) the Dulles brothers.
C) the Congress.
D) John F. Kennedy.

Question 42

Map 24.2, The Korean War, 1950-1953, shows the course of events in the Korean War. At what time, according to this map, did the United States have the broadest military control over the peninsula?

A) July 7, 1953
B) November 1950
C) January 1951
D) September 1950

Question 43

Why did the United States intervene in the civil war in the Congo?

A) The Soviet Union was propping up Patrice Lumumba.
B) Strategically, the Congo was crucial for maintaining control of the Indian Ocean.
C) The Congo held valuable mineral resources.
D) The United States could ill afford to alienate its European ally, Belgium.

Question 44

Which of the following was a major turning point in the history of Vietnam's struggle for national independence?

A) The Battle at Dien Bien Phu
B) The Korean War
C) The formation of NATO
D) The election of President Dwight D. Eisenhower

Question 45

In his plan for European postwar recovery from 1947 [Document 24.2], Secretary of State George C. Marshall wrote: "Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos. Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist." What did Marshall mean?

A) Democracy and freedom relied on a stable economy.
B) Poverty and Communist slavery were the same thing.
C) American aid to Europe was not the product of political considerations at all.
D) The United States wanted to see poverty and desperation turn the Soviet Union into a society in chaos.

Question 46

Map 24.1, The Cold War in Europe, 1945-1955, shows the descent of the Iron Curtain amid Cold War hostilities. Which of the following nations lay closest to the dividing line that separated Europe?

A) France
B) Portugal
C) Poland
D) Hungary

Question 47

President Eisenhower's policy in Vietnam was part of a broader commitment to

A) preventing the rise of Communist governments in newly independent nations.
B) supporting the establishment of autocratic regimes in Third World nations.
C) maintaining U.S. access to investments and markets in Southeast Asia.
D) helping NATO allies retain their colonial holdings in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

Question 48

President Eisenhower's typical response to small nations whose leaders appeared sympathetic to communism or the Soviets was to

A) send American troops to invade them.
B) use the CIA to undermine their governments.
C) threaten them with nuclear annihilation.
D) win their allegiance by offering economic aid.

Question 49

What came to be known as his "domino theory" resulted from President Eisenhower's analysis of the

A) policies of Congo prime minister Patrice Lumumba.
B) Egyptian government's seizure of the Suez Canal.
C) overthrow of Fulgencio Batista by Fidel Castro.
D) potential impact of a Communist government in Vietnam.

Question 50

In the crisis of the Suez Canal in the fall of 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower sided with

A) France and Britain.
B) Israel.
C) the United Nations.
D) Egypt.

Question 51

The response of President Eisenhower and his administration to a nation that claimed neutrality in the Cold War was to

A) take it at its word.
B) treat it as pro-American.
C) treat it as pro-Soviet.
D) press it to choose a side.

Question 52

President Eisenhower's commitment to fiscal prudence had a major impact on

A) public education.
B) defense policy.
C) Social Security.
D) the CIA and FBI.

Question 53

Whom did the Eisenhower administration support as the anti-Communist leader of South Vietnam in 1955?

A) Ho Chi Minh
B) Ngo Dinh Diem
C) Mao Tse Tung
D) Joseph Mobuto